Thursday, December 31, 2015

The highlight of 2015 and welcome 2016!

Assalamualaikum and hye..

What? The last day of 2015? Already? It's a bit sad and scary when to think that how time flies so fast. I am 32 years old and what I have achieved in my life so far? was it impressive enough?

Well, Alhamdulillah for every single event that have occurred in my life in 2015. I would say, the highlight of my life in 2015 was of course... my thyroid operation. The total thyroidectamy. It only started with a tiny lump on the left side of my neck. Just went for a detailed check-up with a general surgeon in DEMC, then had a second opinion with an endocrine expert, Prof. Dato Dr Khalid in Tropicana Medical Centre, thanks to my husband for keep reminding me on the importance of having personal life insurance. It would not be this easy, Alhamdulillah without insurance. The first surgery was under my husband's company's insurance-PM Care and the second surgery was under my personal insurance- Prudential. The total cost for both surgeries (total thyroidectamy) was 27K. Fuhhh... Alhamdulillah. Dato Khalid introduced me to another endocrine expert which also happens to be his ex-student- Dr Zamzuri and since then, my thyroid story begun. Dr Zam was so expert that he only did my ultra sound using his laptop! From there, he suspected that my lump could be dangerous and proposed for an operation. I was like... what??? Never in my life I had gone through any operations before.. I was so scared. He gave me time to think about it and yes, I took 3 months to not think about it ;p. But, I did not want to put my health at risk and my husband was a truly supporter (even though his support towards Liverpool is bigger). He encouraged me to go for the operation and kept convincing me that was nothing I should worry about.

Maybe, Allah swt has made it easier for me and before Ramadhan, I trusted my instinct to contact Dr Zam and set an operation date with him. However, the operation was postponed since I was feverish and non stop of coughing hahahah. Blessing in disguise, I got to enjoy my Raya because the operation was really a big thing! The second attempt of half thyroid removal after Raya was a success. I was a human with a half-thyroid. Alhamdulillah, my first operation went well and I recovered quite fast. There were no side effects on my voice or other body systems. A week later, I received a big test from Allah swt. During the appointment with my Dr. Zam, he had no choice other than telling me the truth. From the lab test, he said I need to go for a second surgery as soon as the next day! I was speechless but remained calm because I always believe Allah swt will always have the best plan for His servants on this earth. I was in a denial for few hours. Husband was trying to be cool and kept giving me the moral support. Went back, inside the car, I could not hold my tears any longer, I remembered I was crying like nobody else business. My husband was trying to comfort me but I just couldn't... 

That evening, reached home, looking at my two boys' face, I was only praying to Allah that I won't be crying in front of them. I needed to be strong. Looking at their innocent and pure faces, I gained my strength back. I promised to myself I would not show my sorrow and weakness in front of others just for the sake of my family. I don't want them to feel sad. I could do this. This was not the end of life. This was the BIG test in my life. Maybe this is the way that Allah swt could erase all my wrongdoings in this world. Holding to that thought, I wanted to fight my thyroid disease. I wanna chase my ultimate dream... I wanna go to the best place in heaven.. insyaAllah. This has always been my ultimate goal. Thus, this has become my strength since then. I will go through this with iman, calm and keredhaan as well gratefulness. 

Second surgery was a really major thing happened in my life so far. The nurses said, my tears dropped down before I doze off from the anesthetic. Funnily, I couldn't remember that. But, after I got conscious from the anesthetic, I felt the tears on my eyes. I felt so weak. Dizzy, nausea, it was at the worst stage of health. The saddest part was, this second surgery has affected my voice. My voice was so weak. I tried to speak louder but I couldn't. I cried inside, tried to hide my sorrow from my husband and parents. Tried to look ok in front of them. Tried to be STRONG. The effect of the second operation was so challenging, I even exited the OT with a blood bag on my chest. It was so smelly. I have never felt that miserable and uncomfortable in my life. BUT, do you know what has made me strong? THE PROMISE that I have made with my Creator, Allah swt. The promise that I will face this test dengan REDHA and the faith that I have, the believe that I hold strongly- that this is part of the stages that I need to face in order to become a better khalifah, a better human, a forgave one. Kerana aku percaya "Allah swt menurunkan ujian untuk menguji keimanan kita. Jika kita berjaya dalam ujian ini, sabar dan redha, maka ganjaran besar yang menanti" InsyaAllah. I never stop praying that I will get my voice back because I earn my salary using my voice. I am a lecturer. I need my voice badly. Alhamdulillah, my worries faded away as my vocal chord recovered exactly 2 weeks after the operation, just exactly the day I got back to my work. Allahhuakhbar. Sesungguhnya Dia Maha Mendengar.

About a month later, as part of the healing treatments, I went for a RAI treatment in SJMC. Covered by my Prudential Insurance which has cost me RM14K (7k for the thyrogen + 7k for the RAI). Alhamdulillah again that I have my personal insurance. One of the most challenging stages in my life so far. After the treatment, I was quarantined in the hospital for 4 days. It was a really lonely process. Luckily, I had my laptop with me. I managed to zumba for few times and watching HBO movies most of the times. Hubby came every day brought me the food. Thank you LOVE. U proved to me that you are an amazing husband. At times, he called from home and asked me whether I wanted to talk to my kids and I said no. Because I would be only crying. The nights were so difficult because I have never been apart from my kids. I have never slept without them at night before. It was so devastating. The first night, I was crying all the way, thinking on my boys, missed them terribly. I couldn't sleep but again, I remember my promise to Him. I took my Quran and recited few pages and felt better after that and managed to sleep at 2 am. Days after that, I got better and I even managed to draft my PHD proposal and emailed it to few potential supervisors! That, was magic. The ideas came non-stop. The nurses and doctor were quite surprised to see me enjoying my quarantine period haha.

Then, I was discharged on day 4 and continued my quarantine at home for another 4 days. THIS, was the moments that I would never forget in my life. Since I couldn't be close with kids in the quarantine period, I was hiding in my own house! I locked myself in the second room upstairs since this room is quite scary for Fahri and Naeem, thus they won't notice me there. Just imagine, it was so difficult, listening to their voice from upstairs but I could not talk to them, I could not see them. I heard at times they were asking me to their papa and papa had to lie that mama went for outstation. I missed my boys terribly. I only went to see them at night, watching them sleep. It was really painful to see them but unable to kiss them. I missed hugging and kissing them, just like I did every day. Hubby, my MIL, SIL were super kind. Prepared and brought me food. Mom, dad and aunties were all nice asking on my condition every single day. Nothing should be complained. The final day of quarantine, I went to the office for some works (I only needed to be away from kids, not adults). After I went home, I couldn't hardly wait to hug my kids.

It was the time, I decided to fetch my first son Fahri at school. When he saw me after 8 days not seeing me, he said "mama!! kenapa mama tak ambil fahri??" pointed out that the 8 days that I did not fetch him from school as always, thanks to my SIL, Ida for taking that responsibility while I was in the quarantine. Listening to that, I cried and hurriedly kissed and hugged him. We reached home, impatiently to see my second son, Naeem. I could see him waiting at the grill gate. The moment I reached him, Naeem said "mama, mama dah tak sakit?" he looked surprised to see me. That I was still there, I was not going anywhere my boy. "Mama dah tak sakit? Meh sini Naeem tengok!" mann... he sounded just like my doctor. I cried inside and never missed to say Alhamdulillah to Allah swt that finally I have passed this test, part of the test. And now, I am living my life as normal as it was, with a better caution of my health. Alhamdulillah

Thus, I only have one major resolution for 2016 --> to be a better muslimah. To gain more akhirat rewards than the dunia.. insyaAllah... aminn

So, I end this 2015 with the bestnine of the year: 
Happy new year people!

Sunday, December 20, 2015

The day I turned 32

I turned 32 on the final day we were in Malacca, 13th December 2015. A night before in our stay-apartment, just came back from a tiring trip in the Old West City, A Famosa Resort, Fahri told me " mama... nak muntah".. I brought him to the toilet and he threw up, looked so tired. I cleaned up his vomit, felt so tired but at the same time, I prayed that my son would be feeling better. Before going to sleep, my husband wished me a happy birthday. Good that he remembered! haha.. but i would not blame him if he forgot to wish me that night because all of us was super tired. Thank you hubby. He said he left the birthday card at home. How sweet of you to buy me another card for birthday :) the sweet thing he did for the anniversary card in Morib was still in my mind. Actually, I did not expect anything big this year since we were on family vacation, thoughtful wishes are more than enough. Everyone that I love was with me for three days, I could have not asked for more.

On the way back to Klang, just like the other three days, we split up with two cars.. my husband drove my Alza and I drove his City. It was heavily congested from Alor Gajah till Senawang. We left A Famosa at 6 pm and reached Klang at 10 pm, plus few stops in RnR. Honda City reached home 10 minutes earlier than Alza..hehe. As I was about to clean myself, my husband reached home with a birthday cake and a giant Bonia paper bag and wished me out loud a happy birthday once again, followed by my SIL. He stopped by at AEON Bukit Tinggi Klang to get me my birthday gift and bought a birthday cake. How sweet is that! Alhamdulillah.. I am so touched because I know all of us were restless.. looking like a zombie but he found some times to do this. Hubby, I know you read my blog sometimes, I want you to know that I really appreciate on what you have done that night, that surprise. Such an effort. I was a little bit shy since everyone was there. So, we did a small celebration together with my sister and my father, the not-so-December babies.
 Yummy cake! Thank you abg!
 As usual, Fahri and Naeem were among the busiest persons-in-charge ;p
 penat2 pun kita pose je
 Alhamdulillah for these sweethearts
 my SILs and my sis
 candid shot of us
 shared it with my sis
 thank you so much hubby for making this up
 blowing the birthday candles
 menyelesaikan masalah berebut pisau cake
 hampir stress dalam perebutan
 thank you for the card and the gift awak!
 I said to him "I knew it you're gonna say these lines..your favorite line!"
 my sis, mom, MIL and SILs
 my dad
 the birthday card.. so sweet
 ye ye.. abang memang sweet... semoga abang sweet hari2 tau
 the only sister that I have..love you
 with my birthday gifts ;) pardon my Channel eyebags.. was so tired hehe
 I love this photo of Naeem.. He looked so comel
Alhamdulillah... so many things happened in life while turning 32.. I am thankful for each of it! Definitely my favorite birthday so far!

Melaka Getaway Day 3: Pantai Kelebang & Safari Wonderland A Famosa Resort

Assalamualaikum and hye!

Tak habis lagi cerita Melaka i olls ok! ok.. final one! the third day or the last day in Malacca. We checked out at 10 am and drove down to Kelebang Beach. Kelebang was also part of the places I wanted to go in Malacca.. the main attractions are obviously the Kelebang Coconut Shake and the sand-dunes.. the first time I saw the beautiful view of the sand-dunes was from a video clip by Aman AF. Don't ask me who is he ;p . Luckily my sister and my SIL also had the same gluttony dreams :D.. but not for my dad and my FIL.. they did not find the beach as unique as we did ;p

The route to the sand-dunes is quite challenging if you are not driving a 4WD. You will have to drive on the sand, so be careful not to diverge from the path in front of you, just follow the used routes or else your tyres will get stuck in some soft sand, especially if it's in a bad weather. So, be careful! You also need to walk few distance from where you leave your car.
As soon as we reached the sand-dunes area, my Naeem was hurriedly climbing the peak of it! We were so impressed with his ability and strength. He must be so excited seeing the beautiful sands. Look at him! I was quite worried at first but the place was safe for kids.
 yeayyy... what a wonderful feeling to be up here! My umi was so cute sitting like that haha
 Love this view so much. Looking at this view made me forgot about all the problems in the world...Subhanallah
 Fahri has made his 'man-made' slide...
 Naeem was very brave
 Naeem won the first place!
 Pose of freedom! yeayyyy.. mind the outfit cause they just woke up from sleep at that time.. nasib baik x pening
ok kids.. hurry up..let's go back..it's about to raining!

The final Malacca excitement has came to the end and the final destination was the Safari Wonderland, A Famosa Resort. Yup, we came back since we missed the shows a day before. This time, we managed to watch all the shows.

 the first show was the Wild Wild West, streaming on the actions of cow boys! There were gun-shooting, chasing and clown-hunting from the show. It was fun but IMHO, it was not really suitable for kids.
 The acting was good
 the funny clown!
 
the cast.. well done! Even though it was raining, they managed to complete the show.
 Next, the multi-animal show... It was raining heavily thus it affected the excitement of the whole show.
 the smart beaver was raising our malaysian Flag! So clever!
 The Cat Show... the original catwalk!

The next show was 'The Colour of Birds' Show.
 The parrot as usual was so smart and attentively listened to the instructions.
 Then, we walked around the park...
 hello mr Elephant!
 After a heavy rain, we got into a Safari bus. It was a fun ride!
 We were brought through to the parks existed in Safari Wonderland including the danger zones: the tiger and the lion land. It was really an experience!
 the giraffes and the mousedeers
 There are so much more to show but you gotta to go for yourself!
Abg Fahri in his 'rain coat'!

Overall, it was a fun and meaningful vacation for me and my loved ones. In fact, I got to celebrate my birthday with the people that I care most. Alhamdulillah...

Friday, December 18, 2015

Melaka Getaway Day 2: Archery & Old West Cowboy Town at A Famosa Resort

On Saturday morning, we went to the swimming pool located in our Garden City apartment. We had fun  splashing around the pool. The pool is quite huge and I would say, it is well-maintained.
 It is a nice swimming pool for an apartment
 my mom just love exploring places
 the kids were even more!
 Next, we drove to A Famosa Resort .. It took about 45 km from Bandar Hilir Melaka
 It is a Christmas season, hence the beautiful decorations. BUT, due to traffic jam, we arrived late to the first theme park- Safari Wonderland. So frustrated! We reached there at 4 pm which the safari will close at 5 pm. Huhu...Thus, my husband decided (decide terus takde tanya-tanya dah laki aku) that we come back on the next day before going back to Klang. It was raining heavily that day thus, we went to the archery arena (located outside of the Safari) while waiting for the second theme park- the Old West Cowboy Town which opens at 6 pm.
 My sister was the one who got excited on archery. My sister is truly an adventurous girl!
Rm 15 for 15 arrows.
 My sis was very good!
Contestant no 2: my dad!
 Contestant no 3: my mom! haha steady with baju kurung!
 Contestant no 4: my hubster!
 Contestant no 5: my SIL
 yang ni bukan contestant.. yang ni eksyen lebih
 still waiting, nasib baik berbakat selfie..kalau tak ...hahah
 the boys were well- behaved Alhamdulillah...just abang Fahri vomited a few times in the car
 my macho boys
 us
 the archery arena

Yeayy... it's 6 o'clock! We hurriedly went to the Old West Cowboy Town. The rain has stopped. Just perfect.
 We can't wait to be in the Old West!
 All the guests were given this cowboy hat while entering the town for photo shoot. My dad really looked like a cowboy man with a gun in his hand! yeehaaaa!
 Such pretty receptionist we have here! haha.. So comel these little ponies..
 Thank you for taking pictures with us ponny-monny!
 Goats were all over the places haha
 the striking hall
 beautiful bus!
 Giant pumpkin
ni tak main pun...amik gambar je
 inside the cowboy town
 with my boys
 They love the place so much!
 one with my family!
 Kesian abg Fahri... semua games papa tak bagi main... nantila abg Fahri dah besar sikit kita datang lagi keh!
 ok...ready for show time!
 best sangat!!
 among the shows: Red Indian show, Animal show (chickens were so cute!)
 Wonder Parade Show
 Malaysia Wonder Show
 The overall show was taking about 1 hour and a half. Before ended the show, there was a firework show!
What a lovely night that we had!

The ticket price for Old West is rm49 for adult (per person) and 35 for kids 9 cm and above.

Next post: Kelebang Beach and Safari Wonderland